Blending Families

Over the weekend we participated in a 'Family Blending' ceremony for Laura and Leah Kasack and Bill and Ashley Ratliff. Bill and Laura were married earlier in the week in a private ceremony. This was an opportunity to formally blend the two families.

The ceremony was held at West End Assembly of God Church; in the room where Laura and Bill met. The ceremony was led by Shane Schliesman, Family Life Pastor, who shared that he grew up in a blended family.

The entire family joined in lighting the 'Unity Candle' symbolizing joining the two families together.

At the end of the ceremony, those attending were invited to share a word of blessing for the new family. Van Williams, father of the bride welcomed Bill and Ashley into the extended family and gave his blessing to the new family.

The Bill, Laura and the girls joined in cutting the cake and feeding each other a piece of the cake.

When two people marry, they join their hearts and their lives together. They may only see their lives, but they become a part of the chain of generations that God causes to come and go. When a family comes together they share their hopes and dreams for a future. The synergy of the family enables each individual to become more than they could by themselves. When a family joins together, the joy is doubled (or in this case quadrupled) and the sorrows are halved.

In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. Deuteronomy 30:16

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, and give you peace.